EXCLUSIVE Three huge sharks wash up on busy Hamptons beach in front of shocked onlookers
Horrified onlookers have shared photographs of the fish discovered on the shores of Flying Point Beach close to the ritzy village of Southampton, New York, on Sunday.
Each shark was around four-foot long and weighed 30-40lbs, one observer told the Daily Mail. It's unclear what type of shark they were.
Alarming photographs show one of the sharks laying on its side several meters from the surf, with one fin splayed toward the sky and its mouth open.
Sharks usually end up on beaches after suffering with illness, an injury, disorientation, or being pushed ashore by strong waves or currents.
Flying Point Beach is on the East Coast, where shark sightings have become more common in recent years due to conservation efforts and cleaner waters.
The white sandy beach is a popular escape for New York City dwellers and surfers keen to soak up the beautiful scenery and large waves.
Experts said in 2022 that cleaner waters surrounding Long Island have led to an increase in the number of fish, and predators who eat them over the previous decade.
'If there are sharks in your area, it means it's a healthy ecosystem,' Christopher Paparo, manager of the Marine Sciences Center at Stony Brook University told the Daily Mail.
'We're spotting sharks, whales and dolphins here. In the 60s, we did not have sharks, whales and dolphins,' he said.
'There are a lot more sharks than 10 or 15 years ago,' Paparo also told CBS News.
For years, overfishing and pollution killed off many sharks in New York's waters or forced them to steer clear.
After the 1975 film 'Jaws,' sharks were somewhat demonized in the public eye and shark conservationists have only recently rehabilitated their image.
Another reason sharks have been spotted more in recent years is the rising temperature of the ocean due to global warming, as prey can be more plentiful in warmer waters.
No fatalities have been reported this summer, and Paparo says that's due to a shark's intentions when coming into contact with humans.
'It's very common that the shark attack is not fatal,' and 'the reason for that is they're not trying to eat us,' he added.
However, experts said last summer that the US is the shark attack capital of the world.
Despite Australia's reputation for being a hotspot, more than half of the 69 worldwide confirmed shark bites in 2023 occurred in the US.
Experts told DailyMail.com they believe it to be a mixture of a surplus of fish migrating to the coasts and environmental conditions, along with ocean clean-up efforts.
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